The Philippines Phinale

Monday morning we sailed into Puerto Princesa, our last port in the Philippines.

In port, we were greeted by song and dance.

We opted for our favorite type of excursion - walking around the city on our own.  We had thought of taking one of the ubiquitous tricycle tours but decided against it despite being approached (some might say harassed) by multiple drivers.  We did a loop starting from the port and heading up the hill past the Princess Eulalia Park.

Then we visited the Immaculate Conception Cathedral.  Can you spot Mickey Mouse?

The Plaza Cuartel told a tragic story of brutality during WWII.

Of course, no visit to the Philippines is complete without a stop at the memorial to Rizal.

Here are some sights as we walked along.

Ultimately, we made it to the Public Market.

From there, we headed down to the City Bay walk, stopping at Miaco Aquatic Fish Breeding along the way.

The Baywalk provided a nice shaded spot for resting, although the military jets flying over did disrupt the quiet.

We then walked back to the ship.

It turned out to be a tiring 2 hour walk.  It was hot and humid.  Don't believe me?  Look at this!

This evening we will sail away for Kota Kinabalu (Borneo), Malaysia.  I presume that we'll be escorted by another interesting pilot boat.

Our impressions of the Philippines?  We don't know what we expected but we found that the people are pleasant and friendly (much like the Filipino crew on Oceania), the islands are beautiful and the weather is hot. Like any country, it has its big cities and small towns. While we're glad that we finally made it here, we don't see us coming back anytime soon.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry